ORGANIZATION OF COUNTIES.

     The Governor contended that the ordinance of 1787 gave him the power to divide the territory into counties, appoint and cmmission all officers, civil and military, below the rank of general officers, and that having the undisputed right to appoint and commission all officers, it therefore followed as a necessary consequence, that he had the power of sub-dividing the counties and refused to sign any law which might be passed for the sub-division of counties.
     "The members of the Legislature admitted that the Governor had the power to appoint the commission all offices, below the rank of general officers, and to lay out the parts of the districts  (territory) in which the Indian title had been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the Legislature."
     The contended that after he had done that that his power was at an end, because the territory had already been laid off by him and organized into counties, and that part of the ordinance which gave the governor power to lay out the district into counties closes with the words, "subject, however, to such alterations as may hereafter he made by the Legislature," and that power from which he contended was a constructive one, not authorized by the constitution.
     Thus the dispute remained undetermined until the adoption of the constitution and the establishment of a State government.
     Washington county, embracing the eastern half of the present State of Ohio, was the only organized county of the Northwest Territory until early in 1890, when the Governor proclaimed Hamilton county, which included all the territory between the Big and Little Miami rivers, and extending north to the "Standing Stone Forks" on the first named stream.
     The following is a list of all the Territorial counties organized; also the date of organization, with their respective county seats:

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     By the organization of the Indiana territory, in 1800, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory.  The remaining nine counties are all that were organized by the Governor under the territorial government.  The four last named of these counties, to-wit, Trumbull, Clermont, Fairfield and Belmont, were organized after the dispute originated between the Governor and territorin_ Legislature, and the other five previously thereto.  All the other counties have been established under State authority, since 1802.

ADAMS COUNTY -
ITS ORIGINAL BOUNDARIES.

     Adams was the fourth county organized in the State.  It was named in honor of John Adams, the then President of the United States.  Its boundaries were as fellows:
     "Beginning upon the Ohio, at the upper boundary of the tract of 24,000 acres of land granted to the French inhabitants of Galliopolis, by an act of the Congress of the United States, bearing date the third of March, 1795; thence down the said Ohio river, to the mouth of Elk river (generally known by the name of Eagle creek); thence up the principal stream of said Elk river, or Eagle creek, to

its source or head; thence, by a due north line, to the southern boundary of Wayne county, and easterly along said boundary, so far that a due south line shall meet the interior point of the upper boundary of the aforesaid tract of land of twenty-four thousand acres, and with said boundaries, to the place of beginning.
     Adams county, with these boundaries, embraced within its limits the whole of the following eight counties, to-wit: Pike, Ross, Fayette, Pickaway, Madison, Franklin, Union and Delaware, and parts of the twelve counties of Scioto, Highland, Brown, Clinton, Fairfield, Clark, Champaign, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Knox and Licking.
     On the 20th of August, 1798, the governor organized the county of Ross, which detached from Adams county all that portion of its territory lying north of a line beginning at the forty-second mile tree, on the line of the original grant of land by the United State to the Ohio company, which line was run by Isaac Ludlow, and running thence west, until it shall intersect a line to be drawn due north from the mouth of Elk river, (commonly called Eagle creek) and from the point of intersection running north to the southern boundary of the county of Wayne; and from thene easterly with the said boundary of Wayne, until a north line be drawn from the place of beginning, shall intersect the same; and if it should be found that a north line drawn from the place of beginning, will not intersect the said southern boundary of Wayne, then an east line is to be drawn from the eastern termination of the said boundary, until it shall intersect the aforesaid north line to be drawn from the place of beginning."
     An act was passed by the Legislature Dec. 27, 1817, creating the county of Brown, with the following boundaries, to-wit: "Beginning at a point eight miles due west from the court house in West Union, in the county of Adams; thence running due north to the Highland county line; thence west with the Highland county line to Clermont county line; thence north with Clermont county line to Clinton county line; thence west with Clinton county line so far that a line running south will strike the Ohio river two miles above the mouth of Bullskin creek; thence up the Ohio river, and with the same, so far that a line running due north will strike the point of beginning."
     This cut off from the west side of Adams a tier of townships, to-wit: Huntington, Boyd and Eagle.  It was the last territory taken off the county.
     As at present established, it has Highland and Pike counties on the north, Scioto on the east, the Ohio river dividing it from Kentucky on the south, and Brown county on the west.  It is about twenty-ive miles in extent, both from north to south and from east to west, contains 550 square miles, and 352,000 acres of land.

TOPOGRAPHY -
SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.

     The surface is generally uneven or hilly - in the eastern part almost mountainous.  IT embraces a variety of soils, from the best to the poorest, a great proportion - especially in the eastern part - of the latter kind.  The interior of the hills along Brush creek contain considerable amounts of iron ore.  There were once three furnaces and a forge in operation along that stream, which did a considerable business, but the opening up of other mines, with better market facilities and perhaps with richer ore deposits, made the working of these furnaces unprofitable, and they have long since ceased to exist.
     The principal stream of water is Brush creek, which passes through the county from north to south.  It has numerous tributaries that flow into it, mostly from the west side.

PRODUCTIONS.

     Wheat and corn are the staple productions, and the stock raised is mainly hogs and cattle.  Although this method deteriorates the land, it seems hard for them to get out of the ways and raise more grass and sheep, to which this county is so well adapted

TOBACCO.

     The cultivation of tobacco, to which this land - especially in the eastearn part of the county - seems well adapted is a matter of growing importance, and rapidly

increasing.  There i a considerable amount of money already derived from its production.

TIMBER.

     All the hillsides and valleys in the eastern portions of the county, was, originally, densely covered with a heavy growth of valuable timber, which has yielded no inconsiderable amount of revenue to that section.  The land, being rough and hilly, was not take up until a comparatively recent period, and a vagrant, shiftless class of people squatted on it at an early day, who eked out a precarious living by cutting down the fine oak trees and peeling the bark, which was sold for tanning purposes, leaving the valuable bodies of the trees to decay.  Since the land has been bought up, more economy had been used, by working the timber into cooper stuff, after selling the tan bark.
     The business of selling tan bark, staves, and hoop poles, is extensively carried on, and a large portion of the revenue of the people of these eastern townships is derived from the sale of these articles, which are hauled to Rome and shipped by the river, in large amounts.

THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION.

     The county was organized July 10, 1797, by Winthrop Sargent, Secretary of the territory, then acting Governor, in the absence of Governor St. Clair, the then Governor of the northwestern territory.  The first court was held in Manchester, in September, 1797.  The Secretary, in the absence of the Governor, also appointed commissioners to locate a county seat, who selected an out of the way place, a few miles above the mouth of Brush creek, which they called Adamsville.  This place was where, the village of Rome now stands - though so far as we can learn, no village was laid off there, or even were there more than a house at the place.  It was impossible for the lawyers and parties attending court, to find a place of entertainment, or accommodations for man or beast; they in derision named the place "Scant."  At the next session of the court, its members became divided, and part sat in Manchester and part at Adamsville.  The Governor, on his return to the territory, finding the people in great confusion, and much bickering between them, removed the seat of justice to the mouth of Brush creek, where the first court was held in 1798.  Here a town called Washington, was laid out by Noble Grimes, on the 15th day of 'April, 1802, on a survey of 116 lots.  A large hewed log court house was built, with a jail in the lower story, and the Governor appointed two more of the "scant" party judges, which gave them a majority.
     In 1800, Charles Wylling Boyd, Secretary of the territory, in the absence of the Governor, appointed two more of the Manchester party judges, which balanced parties, and the contest was maintained until West Union became the county seat, in 1804.
     In September, 1799, the first territorial Legislature, under the ordinance of Congress, of the 13th of July, 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States, northwest of the river Ohio, convened at Cincinnati.  During that session, an act was passed to remove the seat of justice for Adams county, from the month the Brush creek, to Manchester.  By the ordinance aforesaid, the Governor had a positive negative on the acts of the Legislature, and he being an European, and willing to exercise his power, refused to sign the law - and also ten other laws, passed by the legislature at the same session, mostly for the division and regulation of counties and seats of justice.
     By this arbitrary exercise of power, by the Governor, the people and their representatives relinquished all hopes of effecting any internal regulations, under the territorial government, and looked forward, with anxiety, to the day when by the increase of their numbers, they would be entitled to form a constitution and state government.  It is believed that this arbitrary exercise of power by the Governor, under the territorial government, had a full share of influence with the members of the convention, who framed our constitution, in confining the powers of the Governor within such narrow limits.  There was but one member of the convention who was willing to give the Governor a qualified negative upon the act of the legislature.